Hey there guys, I was recently looking up something called neurotheology, and ended up at the sci forums. I stumbled upon a thread that stated that the feeling of God is self induced, shown through studies of the brain while someone is praying, and that the same thing can be acheived through drugs. I've yet to do more research on this as I'm afraid of getting nothing but biased atheistic sites. So before I go researching this some more, I want to here what all of you knowledgable people have to say.
Also, one thing to note is that they did the studies on the people of multiple religions, not just christians.
The feeling of "God" self induced???
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Silverfang
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Re: The feeling of "God" self induced???
The most complete treatment on this topic I have seen from a non-atheist perspective is "The Spiritual Brain":
http://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Brain-N ... 0060858834
You will find that there are some reviews of course try and belittle the conclusions, but it is best to read it for yourself and make up your mind.
http://www.amazon.com/Spiritual-Brain-N ... 0060858834
You will find that there are some reviews of course try and belittle the conclusions, but it is best to read it for yourself and make up your mind.
Acts 17:24-25 (NIV)
"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. [25] And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else."
//www.omnipotentgrace.org
//christianskepticism.blogspot.com
"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. [25] And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else."
//www.omnipotentgrace.org
//christianskepticism.blogspot.com
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narnia4
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Re: The feeling of "God" self induced???
I think there's an error being made here that's made quite often when discussing neuroscience.. Just because the brain is in a certain state when something happens, that doesn't prove that the experience isn't real... I don't believe that this is an unwarranted assumption that's continuously made by atheists. What if you could use drugs to replicate the state of the brain when you're in a conversation with your girlfriend. Does that prove that you've never had a conversation with your girlfriend? To me this is just another sign of the atheist's dedication to scientism.
Having an area of the brain that deals with spiritual experience, to me that would be expected if God is real. Now if he weren't, then to me the belief in the spiritual and an area of the brain that deals with that would become harder to explain, not easier. And we all know that people from other religions have "spiritual" experiences, to me that's really not an issue. We all knew that already.
But those are just a few of my thoughts, I'm no expert either.
Having an area of the brain that deals with spiritual experience, to me that would be expected if God is real. Now if he weren't, then to me the belief in the spiritual and an area of the brain that deals with that would become harder to explain, not easier. And we all know that people from other religions have "spiritual" experiences, to me that's really not an issue. We all knew that already.
But those are just a few of my thoughts, I'm no expert either.
Young, Restless, Reformed